Investigations in 2005 uncovered two large caches of illegal weapons in and around the property, which included machine guns, rocket launchers and even a battle tank. It was the largest arsenal of arms ever found in private hands in Chile.

After Pinochet’s military dictatorship came to an end, things began to change for Colonia Dignidad.

By 1997, Chilean authorities began investigating Paul for crimes relating to child abuse, tax fraud, weapons, forced labour and the torture and disappearance of prisoners – but he fled to Argentina.

Relatives of people who went missing after being detained in the compound demand the closure of the facility, which now hosts a hotel, school and restaurant, in June 2016

Paul was captured in 2005 and placed in a Chilean supermax jail in 2010, five years into a 20-year sentence. He was 88.

Numerous investigations have continued to unlock details about the shocking conditions at Colonia Dignidad.

“For many years, from the 1960s to the 1980s, German diplomats looked the other way, and did too little to protect their citizens in this commune,” said German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

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“Even later, when Colonia Dignidad was dissolved and the people were no longer subjected to the daily torture, the service lacked the determination and transparency to identify its responsibilities and to draw lessons from it.”

The colony’s grim history was recently dramatised in the film Colonia, starring Harry Potter actor Emma Watson.

Colonists were stunned when the outside world finally penetrated their enclave. Some returned to Germany while others stayed at the commune.